September 2019 Newsletter

I hope all of you have had a good summer, in spite of the heat. We on the ΦBKNCA Board thank you for being a member of our Northern California Association.

O’Neil Dillon, our First Vice–President for Programs, has planned some wonderful excursions for us around the Bay Area. See the events, page two for descriptions. Then fill in a coupon to send with your check for registration, or use PayPal to save a stamp and get an instant receipt. I hope to see you at some of these great Learning Experiences.

In May, which seems a long time from now, but which will be here before we know it, we’ll confer scholarships on worthy graduate students from some of our association’s campus Chapters. The hard work of Second Vice President–Scholarships, Joanne Sandstrom, and her committee (and your monetary contributions) makes this possible. My thanks to all members who have given generously to our scholarship program during the past year and before. Please keep it up!

We encourage nominations for our Teaching Excellence awards for faculty members at the universities in our Association area that have Phi Beta Kappa chapters, If you were motivated, impressed, or enthralled by a teacher at any of those schools, please nominate him/her for a Teaching Excellence award, using the form available at www.pbknca.org/teaching/. Teaching Excellence Chair Narcinda Lerner awaits your input. Former recipients are often featured speakers at our Asilomar conference.

Speaking of Asilomar, please consider attending our annual Presidents’ Weekend symposium, to be held this coming February 14-17, 2020, at Asilomar (Pacific Grove). We will enjoy hearing speakers on a variety of subjects from literature to science and everything in between, have fascinating conversations, and marvel at nature’s magnificence as we wander the retreat grounds. Asilomar Chair Deirdre Frontczak will be delighted to receive your reservation. All proceeds from the symposium go to our award programs. See page five.

We are seeking nominations for this prestigious award, which carries an honorarium as well as a certificate. Please nominate a professor you consider outstanding: someone who taught an especially memorable course or who impressed you as an unusually skilled educator, who had a special impact on your education, career, or life, or whom you found inspiring and admirable. Making such a nomination is an appropriate and satisfying way of expressing your gratitude to that person. Awardees nominated in 2019 will be honored at the ΦBKNCA awards dinner in May 2020.

Faculty members of any rank (including lecturers and emeriti) at the following schools are eligible for nomination: Mills College, San Francisco State University, Santa Clara University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and The University of the Pacific. Please give as complete information as possible. Your nominees need not be Phi Beta Kappa members. You may make more than one nomination, but please use a separate form for each nomination you make.

Nominations for spring 2020 must be received by November 30, 2019. Please use the webform at www.pbknca.org/teaching/ (preferred), or the hardcopy available by printing the pdf there.

Reservations can now be made online using Paypal or credit card. Quick and easy, no coupons to download and mail, and you get an instant receipt! See the website at www.pbknca.org/events/. Of course, coupons are still available if you want to send a check. No acknowledgements will be sent for coupon reservations.

Most events can accommodate you and any friends or family you'd like to bring along. Occasionally an event will have a limited enrollment, in which case we may not be able to accommodate more than one member and one guest per enrollment. No refunds; fees will be donated to the scholarship fund program in lieu of a refund. You will not receive written confirmation of your reservation for the events unless you register online. Directions are available from the event websites, Google.com, your GPS, or on the day of the event by calling O’Neil at 510-207-8761.

Chiura Obata (1885-1975) is among the most significant California’s artists of the 20th Century. He immigrated from Japan in 1903, eventually becoming an art professor at the University of California, Berkeley. As a Japanese American, he and his family were imprisoned in World War II in the Topaz internment camp in Utah.

Obata is best known for his iconic paintings of Yosemite and California landscapes, but his drawings and paintings during his imprisonment are haunting, raising deep questions about how immigrants are treated as “other” in American life.

This is the first major exhibit of Obata's art in nearly 20 years, and offers an unprecedented survey of Obata’s rich and varied body of work with more than 100 paintings, drawings, prints and personal items, including from the Topaz internment camp. Much of the exhibit is from private collections and has never been on public display.

The exhibit closes in September and will be traveling to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Your admission will also allow you to explore the extraordinary Crocker Art Museum at your leisure.

The Aftel Archive of Curious Scents is not just the first museum in the U.S. dedicated to perfume, but more beguilingly, the first one dedicated to the experience of fragrance. This tiny museum manages to contain the olfactory history of the world: hundreds of natural essences, raw ingredients and antique tinctures gathered from every corner of the globe, and all available for visitors to smell.

This small museum host 8 guests at a time for an hour’s tour, allowing visitors to experience many different fragrances as well as have three letter-press scent strips to dip in essences and take home (shown at left).

Anyone having read “Moby Dick” will know that a prized substance from sperm whales is Ambergris, used in perfumery and derived from the squid Sperm whales eat. It is, in essence, whale poop mostly found floating on the ocean’s surface.. Ever wonder what Ambergris fragrance is like? Now is your chance! Experience a 100 year old sample, as well as modern synthetic ones, and this is only one of hundreds of different fragrant substances at the Archive!

Date-Saturday, September 14, 2019

Deadline - September 1, 2019 (early registration highly recommended)

Time- First tour starts promptly at 10 AM for 8 attendees and last one hour. Arrive at least 15 minutes before.

Additional tours starts hourly thereafter. Attendees will be assigned their tour times via E-mail based on when they register for the event.

The Giacomini Dairy Farm is an iconic, and picturesque, West Marin Dairy Farm on the East side overlooking Tomales Bay just North of Pt Reyes Station. It is a 1000 herd dairy farm which makes some of its cheeses from milk produced on its farm, so can be called a" Farmstead “cheese company.

The tour is of the dairy farm first, followed by a cheese tasting (wine extra) in the lovely patio next to its visitor center. The farm is an exemplar of sustainable, organic dairy farming with a technologically sophisticated methane recapture system powering 65% of the farm’s energy needs. It is an example of land being protected in West Marin to sustain the agricultural heritage of the area close to the Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco – Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture houses one of the most comprehensive Asian art collections in the world, with more than 18,000 works of art in its permanent collection, some as much as 6,000 years old.

Enjoy a private docent-led tour through the newly re-opened 3rd floor galleries to discover the Asian’s rich collection in a new display. The Asian’s collection showcases diverse and intriguing cultures as well as sacred and secular art. The “Great Works” tour is the perfect introduction to the Asian Art Museum’s collection and a superb way to experience the collection over and over again in the future. This tour is crafted to focus (in depth) on a relatively small number of artistic masterpieces, which exemplify their particular aspects of Asian art.

Visit the museum’s other exhibits on your own afterward, and enjoy a lunch in the museum restaurant. Special exhibits are available for an additional $10 at the time of the visit. See www.asianart.org/

Cost: $20 for non-Museum members. If you are a Museum member, you get free admission to the Museum for yourself and one guest. (Bring your membership card!) You need only pay $7 per person contribution to our ΦBK Scholarship Fund. If you have additional guests, they must pay $20 ($13 for Museum admission plus a $7 contribution to our PBK Scholarship Fund). Confusing, yes. But we are Phi Betes!

“THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND” - Razzle-dazzle, show-stopping, famous melodies, hilarious lyrics, and all that jazz that celebrates the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb. All your favorite hits from CABARET and CHICAGO plus lots of great songs from THE RINK, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, WOMAN OF THE YEAR and other musicals are spun into a delightful cabaret-style revue that has garnered loads of awards from coast to coast. The show was conceived by Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman & David Thompson, with Stage Direction by Clark Sterling and Music Direction by Mike Greensill.

Cinnabar Theater is a professional non-profit theater located in a quaint 1908 schoolhouse-turned-theater. It earns a 4.5/5 Google review rating.

Where is Asilomar? The beautiful Asilomar Conference Grounds was designed in the Arts & Crafts style by architect Julia Morgan and is located near Monterey, California. We have held our conference there for the past 33 years. For more see the Wiki

Asilomar once again beckons! This year’s conference reminded us of the pleasures of dialogue in the liberal arts – a conversation that flows from history to literature, from biology to design, from neuroscience to music to foreign affairs.

We have a slate of extraordinary speakers representing a broad range of disciplines and pursuits. As always, we look forward not only to sharing a mental workout but also to the privilege of renewing old friendships and beginning new ones – all in a location of exceptional peace and beauty. Thank you for joining us in what promises to be a lively and exhilarating exchange.

More details will be posted online about this wonderful event at www.pbknca.org/asilomar. It is not too early to sign up now!

Deirdre Frontczak, Asilomar Chair

A preview of the 2020 speakers:

Friday Evening, 7:30 pm.

Diane Dreher, Ph.D. (Literature), Santa Clara University

The Secret Behind Shakespeare’s Greatest Tragedies

William Shakespeare wrote all of his major tragedies between 1602 and 1607: Hamlet in 1602, Othello in 1604, King Lear in 1605, Macbeth in 1606, and Antony and Cleopatra in 1607. For years scholars have wondered about the mystery behind these works: what had inspired his greatest tragedies? We now know from psychological research that writing about emotional trauma can be powerfully therapeutic. My research has revealed that Shakespeare’s personal losses plunged him into a prolonged period of grieving. While writing Hamlet, he began a therapeutic process that filled his tragedies with unprecedented emotional depth. Drawing insights from Shakespeare’s life, the latest psychological research, and dramatic scenes from Hamlet, we will explore together how this therapeutic process contributed to the play’s enduring appeal.

Diane Dreher is a Professor of English at Santa Clara University. She did graduate work at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon and received a Ph.D. in English from UCLA, an M.A. in Counseling from Santa Clara University, and a B.A. in English from UC Riverside, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Her research agenda includes works on literature and spirituality, Eastern philosophy, leadership, and positive psychology with publications ranging from the bestselling Tao of Inner Peace to scholarly books and articles. In addition to her academic work, she is a writing and positive psychology coach, credentialed by the International Coach Federation.

Saturday Morning, 9:30 am.

William J. Clancey, Ph.D. (Computer Science)

Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition

The Okeanos Explorer: Robotically mediated field science beneath the sea and the art of travel

Using robotic systems operated from NOAA’s ship, the Okeanos Explorer, oceanographers are now able to explore the depths of Earth’s oceans without leaving their homes. Unlike missions on Mars, undersea robots can be tele-operated, communicating without noticeable delay, and an international remote science team can participate as the daily investigation unfolds. I present my observations from an ethnographic study conducted onboard during the American Samoa Expedition. The technology provides a multidisciplinary “collaboration system,” in which the ship’s officers and crew, robot engineers, oceanographers, and educators coordinate their activities during an expedition. The combination of video, phone, and social media provides great flexibility and a voice for everyone, including students, in how the investigation proceeds. Throughout, science, technology, and art are interwoven as the historic, poetic aspect of discovery is ever-present; and as in the first voyages of the South Pacific, exotic images inspire us with the romance of exploration.

William J. Clancey is a computer scientist whose research relates cognitive and social science in the study of work practices and the design of agent systems. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Stanford University (1979) and Mathematical Sciences B.A. at Rice University (ΦBK, 1974). He has developed artificial intelligence applications for medicine, education, finance, robotics, and spaceflight systems. At the Institute for Research on Learning he co-developed ethnographic methods for modeling work systems. At NASA Ames Research Center as Chief Scientist of Human-Centered Computing, Intelligent Systems Division (1998-2013), his team automated file management between Mission Control and the International Space Station, receiving Johnson Space Center’s Exceptional Software Award. He is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, Association for Psychological Science, Association for Advancement of AI, and National Academy of Inventors. His book Working on Mars: Voyages of Scientific Discovery with the Mars Exploration Rovers received the AIAA 2014 Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award.

Addressing the implications of the West African proverb, "The Stranger Sees Only What He Knows," the talk will explore the nature and sources of bias and misunderstanding in a hyper-connecting, often polarizing world. In a time of unprecedented contacts across cultures, author Joe Lurie will examine cultural disconnects with refugees and other immigrants and study the nature and implications of culture clash in the news of the day, in the worlds of diplomacy, politics, business, religion, health care and technology. In this process, we'll come to see and hear that more is meant than meets the eye or the ear.

Author of the award-winning Perception and Deception, A Mind-Opening Journey Across Cultures; former Peace Corps Volunteer, Joe Lurie is Executive Director Emeritus of the University of California Berkeley's International House, a dynamic multi-national residential program center serving the campus, local community, and 1,000 residents from 75-plus countries annually. Its mission is to foster intercultural respect and understanding for the promotion of a more peaceful world. He served in this role for two decades and subsequently has been an active teacher and intercultural trainer at UC Berkeley and consultant on cross-cultural communications. His work has been featured at the Commonwealth Club and on NPR, PBS and in Harper's Magazine and The Mercury News.

Sunday Morning, 10:00 am.

Robert Siegel, Ph.D. (Biology)

Robert Siegel received a Teaching Excellence Award from our Association in May 2019. He is constantly thinking about how he can help his students and genuinely cares about the future of each and every student. He even hosts Breakfast Meetings at his house, so students have the opportunity to speak with leading experts in the fields of Women’s Health, Infectious Disease, and Global Health. Through these discussions, students are inspired to address pressing issues in Global Health and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Siegel reminds his students that it’s never too early to think critically about issues that we feel passionate about, and more importantly, it’s never too early to change the world.

As Chief Science Officer for Point Blue Conservation, Grant leads a number of projects investigating and communicating the effects of landscape-scale environmental stressors on ecosystems and human stakeholders in western North America and the Southern Ocean. Managing a team of 160 scientists, he is responsible for shaping and growing Point Blue's multi-investigator scientific research and conservation programs towards the vision that healthy ecosystems will continue to sustain thriving wildlife and human communities in California and beyond, on land and at sea, for decades to come.

Robots, burlap, and habitat-mapping: Using technology to study animal communication

Ryane Logsdon was the recipient of a Scholarship from our Association in May 2019. Animal communication has led to the evolution of some of the most incredible and diverse displays and behaviors in the natural world. Successful communication between animals is often critical to their continued survival; understanding the dynamic interactions between individuals - and the external factors that influence these dynamics - is important to establishing effective conservation and management strategies. However, conducting this research in the wild is often logistically challenging – the mere presence of a human can drastically alter an animal’s natural behaviors!

Logsdon’s doctoral research focuses on courtship behaviors in a declining species of bird, the greater sage-grouse. Through her dissertation, Logsdon utilizes a variety of tools – including biologically-realistic robot sage-grouse – that enable her to investigate natural courtship behaviors in the wild. This presentation will discuss how her research utilizes both high- and low-tech solutions to further understand the environmental influences on animal communication and the dynamics of inter-individual interactions in these wild birds.

[A male greater sage-grouse mid-display. Photo by Ryane Logsdon.]

Ryane Logsdon is a Ph.D. candidate in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group (ABGG) at the University of California, Davis. After receiving her B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Rochester, she held a series of research positions – studying lizard courtship, vampire bat social calls, and cognition in American crows – investigating various aspects of animal behavior. Ryane’s current doctoral research aims to investigate the interplay between habitat structure, social interactions, and courtship behavior using the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) as a model system. Ryane is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, received the ΦBKNCA graduate scholarship, has published in top-tier journals, and has presented her research at international conferences. In addition to her doctorate work, Ryane enjoys volunteering to work with birds of prey at the California Raptor Center, writing for The Ethogram (the official blog of the ABGG), and teaching dance.

The Abolitionist’s Journal: The Life and Times of an American Anti-slavery Family

Methodist pastor George Richardson (1824-1911) left behind a 334-page journal richly detailing how he and his family used their home on the Underground Railroad to assist escaped slaves; his service as the white chaplain to an African American Union regiment in the Civil War; and then after the war, his family’s struggle to found a college for the formerly enslaved in Texas. The college was burned down by the Ku Klux Klan, chased out by the city of Dallas, and then reestablished in Austin where it thrives today as Huston-Tillotson University. His journal has prompted a decade-long search through family archives -- yet raises questions about how a family’s deep commitment to emancipation faded and disappeared in succeeding generations.

James Richardson is a former senior writer with The Sacramento Bee and the author of several books on California politics, including an acclaimed biography of the politician Willie Brown, published by the University of California Press. His newest book project heads into a new direction, exploring his family roots in the anti-slavery abolitionist movement of the 19th century. Richardson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UCLA and has a Master of Divinity degree from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. He is an Episcopal priest and is currently the interim Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Sacramento.